No more studying on your own: All you need to know about the ‘study with me’ trend

What lies behind this phenomenon, why is it so successful, and what are the potential risks or challenges?

A post by Katharina, Martin Ille and Angelo Stockinger

Thursday, 2 December 2021

Tastes vary, don’t they? Whether it’s food, music or lifestyle – even when it comes to studying, there are many differences. But there is one thing that many students all over the world have in common: distractions. The internet and videos, in particular, distract students from their studies – but the phenomenon we’re presenting to you here is about internet videos designed to support learning sessions.

What are ‘study with me’ videos?

‘Study with me’ (SWM) videos, or 공방 (gongbang), originated in South Korea and are videos in which students film themselves studying – usually for several hours, up to 16 hours or longer.

Particularly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the global lockdown, there has been growing interest among students in getting through this difficult time together with a virtual study partner (Lee et al., 2021).

If you want to study with several people at the same time, there are also online platforms such as StudyStream or StudyTogether. There is no central figure – everyone has their camera on and studies. However, in this article we focus on YouTube SWM videos.

Key Elements

If you’re sitting in your room, unable to go outside, and have always wanted to study in Tokyo, New York or in a famous public library, you can do so with certain SWM videos. But it’s not just the interesting location that can be appealing; the desks and pretty decorations play a part too. Candles, cups of tea or aroma diffusers create a calm atmosphere for studying. From time to time, you can also find videos featuring cute cats or dogs lying relaxed in the background, usually asleep.

Depending on the creator’s choice, there are different camera angles and settings. Some film themselves from the side, directly from the front or from above. Others do not show their face at all.

Most videos feature some sort of sound, whether it’s the creators turning the pages of a book or the sound of typing on a keyboard. Others deliberately film themselves in cafés to capture the typical atmosphere. If you prefer natural sounds such as rain or a crackling fire, you can find videos like that too. If all of this is too ‘boring’ for you, there are also videos featuring lo-fi beats or classical music.

The study period is often divided into study and break sessions using the ‘Pomodoro Technique’. A set number of minutes, e.g. 45 minutes, is dedicated to concentration, followed by a 5-minute break. During these live break sessions, the creators usually chat to their community.

Psychological Aspects

Now that the trend has been described, we will examine the psychological aspects. In principle, two psychological constructs can be associated with the SWM concept. One is emotional contagion and the other is parasocial relationships.
Emotional contagion is a process in which one’s own behaviour influences the behaviour of others in the environment. Thus, taking the example of SWM videos, the focus and concentration can be transferred to the audience.

The other psychological concept relates to parasocial relationships. This means that viewers feel connected to the people in the video because, for example, they are always studying or working on projects together at the same time (Stojanovic, 2021). However, in the literature, the construct of parasocial relationships is described as one-sided because the performer does not receive feedback from the viewer (Horton & Wohl, 1956). As there are opportunities for interaction on social media platforms such as Twitch or YouTube – where SWM content is primarily accessible – it is not possible to speak of fully parasocial relationships in this context. Opportunities for dialogue are provided here via the chat function during a live stream or through the comments section beneath a video.

Benefits

In addition to these two psychological concepts, a number of benefits for the viewer can also be attributed to this South Korean trend.
For example, the videos and live streams are often perceived as motivating because they convey the feeling of learning alongside others in a library or café and working towards a common goal. Furthermore, many viewers find it emotionally supportive to know that other people are currently doing the same thing or even studying late into the night. Furthermore, choosing an appealing video can create an atmosphere in which the learner feels at ease. This is usually achieved by selecting a preferred visual style and background sounds. This makes it much easier to tailor the atmosphere to one’s own preferences than in a physical setting. Another advantage is that SWM content is often accessed via a smartphone, which drastically minimises the distraction caused by the device, as the screen is occupied by the video player and no further interaction with the mobile device is possible (Lee et al., 2021). Furthermore, the videos lead to better time management, which helps learners organise their workload more effectively (Stojanovic, 2021). This is because, as described at the beginning, a large proportion of the videos consists of time blocks during which learners either focus on their work or take a break. In many cases, this is based on the Pomodoro technique mentioned earlier, which was developed by Francesco Cirillo (Cirillo, 2018).

Challenges & Risks

As we have just seen, the concept of SWM has certain advantages and justifies its existence. However, there are also some challenges and risks that should be critically considered when applying this concept (Stojanovic, 2021).

On the one hand, given the thoroughly immersive nature of such videos, there is a risk of overexertion and overload when it comes to learning, which in the worst-case scenario can lead to burnout. Therefore, you should not become too absorbed in the YouTuber’s learning routine and should not adopt their learning sessions – which can last up to 16 hours – exactly as they are. Instead, you should be mindful of your own stress limits whilst learning and follow your own pace. Furthermore, SWM videos should not be the sole factor driving productive learning, as there are other factors that contribute to productivity beyond simply increased motivation. For example, by combining healthy food that stimulates the brain, a balanced sleep schedule, and some time off for hobbies and leisure, you can further boost your learning efficiency and thus achieve your learning goals even more effectively.

On the other hand, another challenge for both consumers and producers of such videos is not to lose sight of the actual purpose and focus of this content. YouTubers are paying increasing attention in their videos to aesthetic presentation and environmental composition to make the videos even more visually appealing. This also encourages the corresponding community to create such an aesthetic learning environment for themselves and thus emulate their role model. For example, visually appealing and clearly organised desks can be helpful for the learning process, but should never be the main reason for learning.

Another risk lies in the erosion of the YouTuber’s privacy, as particularly long 12-hour live streams undoubtedly lead to greater transparency regarding the people’s private lives and thus allow for intimate insights. Through such private insights into personal spaces and behavioural habits, third parties could potentially cause the content creator considerable harm using this sensitive data, for example through break-ins or stalking.

As already described, there are also video formats that do not merely last two hours but are sometimes recorded for twelve hours or more. With such high intensity and extremely long duration, there is certainly a risk that these video formats take on morbid proportions and lose touch with reality.

In general, the challenge of mounting pressure can also be very intense for the creators, especially in the case of long live videos, as they are constantly under observation – apart from during breaks – and may be expected to interact continuously with their viewers.

Despite all these potential risks, the concept of ‘study with me’ videos has great potential to help others with their learning and, more generally, to create a more productive daily routine. In other areas, such as cooking and eating, decluttering, cleaning or reorganising the home, or sporting activities, it is also conceivable that the social aspect underlying ‘study with me’ videos can be beneficial.

References:

Cirillo, F. (2018). The Pomodoro Technique: The Life-Changing Time-Management System

Horton, D.; Wohl, R. ( 1956). Mass Communication and Para-Social Interaction. 215–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/00332747.1956.11023049

Lee, Y., Chung, J. J. Y., Song, J. Y., Chang, M., & Kim, J. (2021). Personalising Ambience and Illusionary Presence: How People Use ‘Study with me’ Videos to Create Effective Studying Environments. Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445222

Stojanovic, M. (2021). Do “study with me” videos help with productivity? https://clockify.me/blog/managing-tasks/study-videos/#The-appealing-elements-of-study-with-me-videos

Image source: Julia M Cameron / pexels.com